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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDocumentation_Special Meeting_Tab 02A_11/28/2007R ~ WEISS SEI3OTA HELFMAN PASTOKIZA COLE Sc BONISKE, P.I.. ATTORNEYS AT LAW MITCHELL BIERMAN, P. A. NINA L. BONISKE. P.A. MITCHELL J. BURNSTEIN, P.A. JAMIE ALAN COLE, P.A. STEPHEN J. HELFMAN, P.A. GILBERTO PASTORIZA, P. A. MICHAEL S. POPOK, P.A. JOSEPH H. SEROTA, P. A. SUSAN L. TREVARTHEN, P. A. RICHARD JAY WEISS, P.A. DAVID M. WOLPIN, P.A. DANIEL L. ABBOTT LYNN M. DANNHEISSER IGNACIO G. DEL VALLE ALAN L. GABRIEL DOUGLAS R. GO NZALES MATTHEW H. MANDEL BRETT J. SCHNEIDER MELISSA P. ANDER50 N' LILLIAN ARANGO DE LA HOZ' JEFF P.H. CAZEAU A PROFESSIONAL LIMITEb LIABILITY COMPANY INCLUDING PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS MIAMI-DADE OFFICE 2525 PONCE DE LEON BOULEVARD SUITE 700 CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA 33134 TELEPHONE 305-854-0800 FACSIMILE 305-854-2323 WWW.WSH-LAW.COM BROWARD OFFICE 200 EAST BROWARD BOULEVARD ~ SUITE 1900 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA 33301 TELEPHONE 954-763-4242 • FACSIMILE 954-764-7770 'OF COUNSEL October 30, 2007 Via Federal Express Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage Honorable Vice Mayor Pat Watkins Honorable Councilmember Tom Paterno Honorable Councilmember Dan Amero Honorable Councilmember Calvin Turnquest Village of Tequesta 345 Tequesta Drive Tequesta, Florida 33469 RAOUEL ELEJABARRIETA CHAD S. FRIEDMAN JOHN J. KENDRICK III HARLENE SILVERN KENNEDY KAREN LIEBERMAN' JOHANNA M. LUNDGREN ANDREW W. MAI PAMI MAUGHAM ALEXANDER L. PALE NZUELA-MAURI' JOHN J. OUICK ANTHONY L. RECTO SCOTT A. ROBIN GAIL D. SEROTA' JONATHAN C. SHAMRES ESTRELLITA S. SIBILA EDUARDO M. SOTO FLETA A. STAMEN MICHAEL L. STINES NANCY STUPARICH' STEVEN E. TAYLOR PAUL S. VICARY LAURA K. WENDELL' JAMES E. WHITE Re: Request for Proposals for Municipal Legal Services/VC 2007-02 Honorable Mayor, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers: The purpose of this letter is to respond to the Village of Tequesta's Request for Proposals for Municipal Legal Services ("RFP VC 2007-02"). Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole and Boniske, P.L. (the "Firm") is one of the few full-service municipal law firms in South Florida dedicated to providing both the full governmental services generally provided by a Village Attorney, as well as all specialized legal services in virtually every discipline the Village of Tequesta might need from time-to-time. The general services that the Firm provides include, but are not limited to, all areas of general municipal law (i.e., elections, sunshine laws, public records laws, voting conflicts) as well as land use and zoning, building, permitting, code enforcement and lien law, bidding, procurement and contract law, parliamentary law and procedure, constitutional and legislative Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 2 issues, economic development and redevelopment issues, as well as monitoring any outside counsel. The specialized services that the Firm provides include, but are not limited to, labor and employment issues, eminent domain, litigation, appellate representation and oversight to outside counsel to the Village, utilities law, environmental law, emergency services law, telecommunications, housing issues, municipal finance and taxation, real estate (including joint public/private ventures, CDDs and other taxation districts as desired by the community) and construction law. Our Firm's philosophy is that, rather than having the municipality seek outside counsel on a case-by-case basis (unless it is specifically so desired by the Council) and spend the time, effort and resources, financial or otherwise, to educate new counsel, it is more advantageous for the municipality to hire one law firm which has a comprehensive knowledge of all the areas of the law that will affect the municipality and can apply its collective knowledge and expertise to service the municipality. The following information addresses the "Specifications" required by RFP VC 2007-02: Qualifications A. Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske, P.L. was created with the idea that local governments need the same high level of professional legal representation as for-profit corporations and businesses. Similar to private companies, local governments are multi-million dollar businesses with large staffs, complex regulatory schemes and very demanding shareholders, namely, the citizens who elect them. Like corporate law, securities law and estate planning, municipal law is a highly specialized and complex area of the law. Weiss Serota is one of the few Florida law firms with a practice primarily focused upon the representation of local governments and public-sector entities. As you can see in the practice area descriptions and attorney profiles included in the Firm brochure, for more than fifteen years, our AV rated Firm has provided the broadest possible range of high-quality legal services, constantly evolving to meet the needs of municipalities, counties, special districts and other governmental entities throughout Florida. Collectively, our 45 attorneys have centuries of experience in the many legal practice areas that are relevant to running cities and local government entities. Our practice areas are structured to interact seamlessly with staff and elected officials and to respond to virtually all of the legal needs of public entities and ensure that local governments effectively meet the legal responsibilities and mandates of local, state and federal law. We understand that our role is to counsel and assist WEISS SEKOTA $ELFMAN PASTOI3IZA COLE cgc BONISKE, P.L. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 3 those officials, by providing a legal framework for decision making, thus enabling them to meet their responsibilities and earn their constituents' confidence and trust. Although you will have access to virtually every lawyer at the Firm with expertise in any number of specialized areas, in order to ensure that the Village receives the most complete, efficient and cost effective service available in a timely and easily accessible manner, the undersigned, Lynn M. Dannheisser will be the partner designated as your Village Attorney. As you will see from my individual resume, included in Composite Exhibit "D", I have been a practicing attorney for over twenty-five years. In addition to having been a litigator, private real estate and land use lawyer, since the mid-eighties, I have represented the City of South Miami, Village of Pinecrest, and two coastal towns -the City of Sunny Isles Beach and currently the Town of Surfside - a municipality very similar to the Village of Tequesta in size and character. I have been involved in the incorporation of several new cities and have served as special counsel for the drafting or redrafting of city charters and zoning codes for a number of others. Through me, the Mayor and Council, your Village Manager, Clerk, Police and Fire Chiefs and all department heads - as directed by the Manager -will have a primary point of contact for quick daily advice or comprehensive research on any emerging issues in a changing legal environment. (You will also have the benefit of any research or analysis of issues that may have been done in other cities where the Firm serves as City, Town or Village Attorney including other coastal communities such as the Town of Golden Beach, Village of Key Biscayne, Bal Harbour Village, Village of Islamorada, City of Marco Island as well as interior cities such as the City of Aventura, City of Weston, Town of Miami Lakes, City of Miramar, City of Homestead, and Town of Cutler Bay, to name a few.) I also attach the resume of Jeff Cazeau who will act as Assistant Town Attorney and be the secondary point of contact should I be unavailable at any given time. See resume included in Composite Exhibit "D". B. While we do not currently have an office in Palm Beach County, we do work for a number of cities in the County including all labor work for the Town of Juno Beach; all litigation, real estate, and land use for the City of Boca Raton; all legal work for the Housing Authority of Delray Beach; land use litigation for the Village of Royal Palm Beach; eminent domain work for the Palm Beach County School Board; land use work for the Village of Wellington; Charter Review Board representation for the City of Riviera Beach; and fire dispatch fee litigation for several cities in Palm Beach County. We also have a presence and represent several government clients in Monroe and Collier Counties, without an office in those locations. We travel as necessary for all government and other client meetings without a problem and have now found that one of the advantages of doing predominantly specialized representation (instead of being city attorney in more than one location in these counties), is that we have a good base of information as to the general issues concerning the cities in the county but conflict situations are minimized, particularly with border cities and/or the County. wEISS SEI30TA HELFMAN PASTOBIZA COLE cgc BONISKE, P ~.. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 4 C. All members of the Firm assigned to perform work on behalf of the Village of Tequesta have superior reputations and are members in good standing of the Florida Bar for at least five years. Including, at least five years of municipal experience. Other Information A. Resumes of Firm attorneys. The attached brochure and individual resumes provide you with more detail regarding our Firm's and individual attorneys overall expertise. In addition to the attached resumes, we refer you to our website: www.wsh-law.com. Although there are several attorneys in each area that could be available to service the Village, and taking into account the special needs and character of the Village of Tequesta, in addition to myself as the Village Attorney, I would work with the following attorneys, as needed: Jeff Cazeau, who specializes in bidding and procurement as well as construction contracts, would serve as my Assistant Town Attorney; Michael Popok as our litigator; Joe Serota and John Quick as our appellate team; Brett Schneider and Raquel Elejabarrieta in labor law; Nina Boniske and Harlene Kennedy as our utilities experts; Doug Gonzales or Alex Palenzuela as our code enforcement specialists; Susan Trevarthan and her department as our land use and zoning experts; Mitch Burnstein in eminent domain; Ignacio del Valle and John Kendrick in real estate and economic redevelopment, Scott Robin in telecommunications; Nancy Stuparich in environmental; and David Wolpin in municipal taxation and finance and administrative proceedings. See enclosed Firm Brochure for individual attorney biographies. B. Firm Capabilities. We have sufficient staff, clerical support, and equipment to service all our municipalities and we pride ourselves on providing a cost effective means, in economically challenging times, for all of our municipal clients to meet their legal service demands. We are constantly evaluating the Firm's capacity to meet these demands in a first class, highly efficient manner. For some of our newly incorporated municipalities, we have even been able to offer, on a temporary basis, clerical and other support services to the Manager until those cities could function independently and hire independent staff. Accordingly, the Village can rest assured we have sufficient staff and other support capacity in our Firm to meet its demands. C. Fee Schedule. We would be willing to discuss various billing options if we are selected. Our anticipated hourly rate for the Village of Tequesta would be $210.00 per hour. These are "across the board" rates and include any partner or associate time. (These rates are discounted for our municipal clients only.) To create a level playing field with any Palm Beach County firm, travel charges between Coral Gables/Fort Lauderdale and South Palm Beach County will not be billed to the Village. Additionally, in order to encourage open communications between the Village Manager and the Village Attorney, telephone calls from the wEISS SEI~OTA HELFMAN PASTOI3IZA COLE 8c BONISKE, P.L. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 5 Village Manager will not be billed. D. Professional References. Charles Burkett, IV -Mayor, Town of Surfside Business: (305) 361-1999; and/or W.D. Higginbotham, Jr., Town Manager, Town of Surfside Business: (305) 993-1052 2. Diana Grub-Freiser -City Attorney, City of Boca Raton Business: (561) 393-7716 3. John Flint -City Manager, City of Weston Business: (954) 385-2000 E. Significant Public Sector Issues. A quick review of our website will direct you to the many interesting and significant public sector issues with which our Firm has been involved. However, I would highlight here just a few: This year the Firm prevailed in a constitutional challenge to the state-ordered roll backs of municipal property tax collections. In Eric M. Hersh v. Kurt S. Browning and Florida Department of Revenue, Broward County Case No. 37- 2007-CA-1862, Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole and Boniske, P.L. filed a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus with the Florida Supreme Court on behalf of Eric Hersh, as a property owner, voter, taxpayer and Mayor of the City of Weston, challenging the property tax legislation. Judge Francis agreed with arguments that the ballot language was misleading and inaccurate and struck the property tax reform from the ballot. (See final summary judgment order and news clippings attached as Composite Exhibit "E".) Throughout this process, the Firm conducted emergency briefings to update our cities on the latest legislative developments, the implications, and possible remedies for these clients. 2. This year, too, the Firm prevailed in a constitutional challenge to ballot referenda in the City of North Miami relating to zoning and land use charter amendment issues. (A copy of the circuit court's summary judgment order in Feldman v. North Miami is attached in Composite Exhibit "E.") The matter is now on appeal to the Third District Court. Likewise, we prevailed in another challenge to a charter amendment adopted at the ballot box for the Village of Bal Harbour. Charter creation, review, and amendments are a specialty of the WEISS SEI~OTA HELFMAN PASTOBIZA COLE 8c BONISKE, P.L. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 6 Firm. Because of this, Richard Weiss and I have been appointed to the Broward Charter Revision Commission and the Miami-Dade Charter Review Task Force, respectively. 3. The Firm has also been helping a number of municipalities tackle the legal issues involved in offering WiFi services to their citizens. 4. This year, the Firm represented several cities in Palm Beach County who joined together in the case of City of Boca Raton and City of Delray Beach v. Palm Beach County, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Case No.: 2005CA009338XXXXMB to challenge the utilization of county wide funding of fire-rescue dispatch services by Palm Beach County. In 2004, the County began using countywide revenues to completely fund a countywide dispatch system and offered such services for "free" to encourage the "voluntary" relinquishment of its municipalities' fire rescue dispatch services in favor of the countywide dispatch system. Boca Raton and Delray Beach, along with five other cities, objected as they believed this represented a Hobson's choice for their taxpayers, who already pay for, and receive, their fire rescue dispatch services from their respective cities: either abandon their own fire rescue dispatch systems in favor of the countywide dispatch system, or have their residents continue to pay double for such services. The trial court determined that the County's utilization of countywide funding was unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the use of countywide funds for the county's dispatch system. 5. For the City of North Miami, the Firm as special counsel negotiated and closed a tri-party agreement with a developer, the City, and the Miami-Dade County School Board for the construction of a new high school within the City's corporate boundaries. 6. For the Town of Surfside and several other cities, the Firm has drafted cutting edge zoning legislation designed to address issues raised by RLUIPA and the seminal Supreme Court decision on the subject emanating from the Town of Surfside (Midrash Sephardi, et. al. v. Town of Surfside, et al. ) 7. The Firm represented the Village of Royal Palm Beach in opposing a proposed Development of Regional Impact based on the development's unaddressed impacts on the Village's transportation network. The Firm participated in an interlocal cooperative effort by the Village, the City of West Palm Beach and the City of Palm Beach Gardens to oppose the efforts wEISS SEKOTA HELFMAN PASTOBIZA COLE SC BONISKE, P.L. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 7 resulting in a county commission denial of the plan amendments. 8. The Firm has represented several cities, including City of Coral Gables, in the formation of community development districts as well as having been involved with several joint public/private ventures-one of which I am presently handling with the City of Sunny Isles Beach. 9. The Municipal Land Use and Zoning Department has taken the lead in helping cities address school concurrency and having developers pay for the impacts of their developments. Over the years, I, too, have been intricately involved in assisting cities to secure all permissible fees related to infrastructure impacts from development. These are just a smattering of some of the kinds of issues in which the Firm has been involved on behalf of our public sector clients. F. Litigation Philosophy. Litigation should always be an avenue of last resort. Unless an amicable settlement is unavailable, or the Village desires to engage in litigation as a matter of principle (as the City of Weston did in the tax cut challenge mentioned above) or has no other choice, the Firm does not promote litigation. Even in the best case, there is always a risk of loss and certainly an accumulation of expense in litigation. Accordingly, the risk-reward ratio in any case must be assessed and re-assessed throughout a case. However, if the Village decides to pursue litigation, you should know, the Firm has a very good record in court and maintains a superior reputation in the judicial community for excellence in advocacy. In the last year and half I have been with the Firm, I have been very impressed with the quality of our litigation department. They win their cases often not only because they are talented but precisely because they know when to advise their clients to litigate and when to refrain from or settle litigation. G. Activities in land use, code enforcement, contract and construction law. Our municipal land use and zoning department has drafted zoning codes on behalf of our cities. Susan Trevarthan, who is the head of this department, speaks often around the State on such cutting edge issues as school concurrency issues and has become one of Florida's leading experts on the subject. I personally have been involved in urban redevelopment and in the drafting of several zoning codes for the past decade. Interestingly enough, while the entire City of Sunny Isles Beach underwent redevelopment during my tenure as their in-house City Attorney, the Town of Surfside specifically chose me as their Town Attorney because they believed my experience with some of the biggest developers in Miami-Dade would translate into better protection of their Town from the kind of large scale redevelopment that occurred in Sunny Isles Beach. Thus far, we have been successful. We have also been instrumental in drafting some of WEISS SEBOTA HELFMAN PASTOI3IZA COLE 8c BONISKE, P L. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page S the most progressive RLUIPA zoning regulations in the State. Likewise with respect to code enforcement, before we came into Surfside, the Town had been involved in aggressive code enforcement to the point of confiscation of people's homes. We have helped the new administration rectify this situation and have adopted some excellent code enforcement legislation that is both corrective and fair-minded. Similarly, the Town of Surfside was involved in some major construction litigation related to their new Town Hall. The Firm has been able to successfully resolve these cases with our expertise in construction law and litigation. Michael Popok, who was primarily responsible for these good results, will be on Tequesta's team as well. H. Other relevant work. In addition to providing comprehensive city attorney services, the Firm provides specialized legal advice to many cities in labor and employment law including defending against discrimination and retaliation law, wage and hour law, collective bargaining, post negotiation consulting and training, PERC proceedings and labor related litigation. We have also assisted cities in development of policies and procedures as preventative measures in this area. We frequently represent CRA's including Naranja Lakes, Boca Raton, Coral Springs and City of Hollywood. Of special significance is the Firm's involvement with new urbanism and Traditional Neighborhood Development projects like Mizner Park, Abacoa, and City Place. We also provide specialized counsel in the area of cable and communications law. Additionally, we have significant expertise in police matters, municipal finance including budget and taxes, as well as other revenue sources such as franchise fees and utility taxes. Finally, we represent many private entities in bidding and procurement in all counties and obviously have specialized knowledge in this area on the municipal side as well. I. Why Weiss Serota Helfman Pastoriza Cole & Boniske, P.L. is the best choice for Village Attorney. As a Firm dedicated to providing municipalities with the highest level of professional legal services over the past fifteen years, there are few situations that a municipality will face that some member of our Firm has not dealt with. (Because of this fact, we are also coveted by private sector clients who have business before governments. However, our passion and primary focus has been on representation of governments and their agencies.) We pride ourselves on these specialized skills that we will make readily available to the Village of Tequesta should you select us. As a seasoned city attorney, and with the back-up of a firm of experts in a variety of fields affecting municipalities, Ihope to provide you with the benefit of my personal experience and judgment as well as the broad spectrum of knowledge housed in our Firm. We welcome the opportunity to assist the elected body and the administration in meeting the legal needs of the Village of Tequesta. wEISS SEAOTA ITELFMAN PASTOI3IZA COLE 8c BONISKE, P.I.. Honorable Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice-Mayor and Councilmembers October 30, 2007 Page 9 Once you have had an opportunity to review our brochure and this proposal, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at LDannheisser@wsh-law.com or the telephone number listed above. Also, I am available by cell phone at 786-202-1133. Very truly yours, L nn M. Dannheisser Enclosures cc: Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., Village Manager Lori McWilliams, CMC, Village Clerk WEISS SEKOTA HELFMAN PASTOBIZA COLE be BONISKE, P.L.